Study: Walking and Texting Not Such a Good Idea
By Tara Weng, GalTime.com
Talking on a cell phone or texting while walking may seem like a no-brainer, but new research suggests that it could actually be dangerous and result in walking (gait and posture) problems and even interfere with memory recall. Scientists from Stony Brook University studied over thirty men and women in their 20s, all of whom reported owning and using a cell phone and were familiar with texting.
To assess their walking abilities, participants completed a baseline test. Each participant was shown a target on the floor. Then, by obstructing vision of the target and floor, they were instructed to walk at a reasonable pace to the target and stop. They repeated this task three times. After each walk, the amount of time it took and the position where each participant stopped was measured by the researchers.
Study participants then returned one week later. With their vision obstructed (again), except for the ability to see a cell phone, one-third completed the exact same task; one-third completed the task while talking on a cell phone; and one-third completed the task while texting.
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"We were surprised to find that talking and texting on a cell phone were so disruptive to one's gait and memory recall of the target location," says Eric M. Lamberg, PT, EdD, co-author of the study and Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Technology and Management, Stony Brook University.
The scientists summarized that the changes from the baseline blindfolded walk to testing indicated that participants who were using a cell phone to text while walking and those who used a cell phone to talk while walking were significantly slower, with 33 and 16 percent reductions in speed, respectively. Additionally, participants who were texting while walking veered off course demonstrating a significant increase in lateral deviation and an increase in distance traveled.
Dr. Lamberg says that the significant reductions in velocity and difficulty maintaining course indicates cell phone use and texting definitely impacts working memory of these tasks.
"We are using the findings to help physical therapy patients improve true functional walking while making them aware that some tasks may affect their gait and/or certain aspects of memory recall," said Dr. Lamberg. He points out that using a cell phone while walking reflects a "real world" activity, one that recovering patients are likely to engage in sooner rather than later during their recovery process--making this study a potentially valuable clue to future therapies.
Do you walk and text? Do you think it's an issue?
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